Texas agency: Dead girl kept in fridge for months

by The Associated Press

FOX 11 News vehicle

HOUSTON (AP) - Child-welfare officials say a Houston mother kept her 9-year-old daughter's body in a refrigerator for six months after her death.

A Child Protective Services worker testified Wednesday that the woman acknowledged putting the body in a fridge drawer after finding the girl dead in January. A neighbor discovered the body Monday and went to police.

A court gave the agency custody of the woman's 5-year-old daughter. No charges have been filed.

Caseworker Amber Keyes says the 9-year-old girl had cerebral palsy and weighed just 14 pounds when she died.

Keyes says the mother awoke one morning to find her daughter not breathing and tried unsuccessfully to revive the girl. After taking her younger daughter to school, the mother wrapped the body in a blanket and put it in the fridge.